Preparative isolation and analysis of alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitors from Glycyrrhiza uralensis root using ultrafiltration combined with high-performance liquid chromatography and high-speed countercurrent chromatography

A simple, rapid, and effective assay based on ultrafiltration combined with high-performance liquid chromatography and high-speed countercurrent chromatography was developed for screening and purifying alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitors from Glycyrrhiza uralensis root extract. Experiments were carried out to optimize binding conditions including alcohol dehydrogenase concentration, incubation time, temperature, and pH. By comparing the chromatograms, three compounds were found possessing alcohol dehydrogenase binding activity in Glycyrrhiza uralensis root. Under the target-guidance of ultrafiltration combined with the high-performance liquid chromatography experiment, liquiritin (1), isoliquiritin (2), and liquiritigenin (3) were separated by high-speed countercurrent chromatography using ethyl acetate/methanol/water (5:1:4) as the solvent system. The alcohol dehydrogenase inhibitory activities of these three isolated compounds were assessed; compound 2 showed strongest inhibitory activity with an IC50 of 8.95 μM. The results of the present study indicated that the combinative method using ultrafiltration, high-performance liquid chromatography and high-speed countercurrent chromatography could be widely applied for the rapid screening and isolation of enzyme inhibitors from complex mixtures.